Triethylene and tetraethylene glycol diamines may be continuously produced from glycols catalytically. The triethylene glycol diamine and tetraethylene glycol diamine products are known under the trade names JEFFAMINE.RTM. EDR-148 and JEFFAMINE.RTM. EDR-192, respectively, as made by Texaco Chemical Co. These materials are useful as intermediates in the preparation of hydrophilic nylon resins, and as epoxy curing agents. However, in the production of polyethylene glycol diamine, due to the moderate conversions, there are also produced significant quantities of bottoms products or residues, and it would be beneficial if uses for these materials could be discovered.
It is known to react fatty acids with amines, generally, although not the polyethylene glycol polyamines described above. For instance, the reaction of a fatty acid of the formula RCOOH, where R is a long chain alkyl group with the amine on the left produces the compound on the right: ##STR1## A general reference for surfactant chemistry of this type is M. J. Rosen, Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomenon, John Wiley and Sons, 1978.
In another brief example, the reaction of oleic acid with diethylene triamine may give fatty amine compounds, also known as imidazolines, which have the following structure: ##STR2##
In the making of conventional fatty amido-amines, an alkylene oxide may be added to the amine. Fatty amines, which include related amides and salts, are important in industrial applications such as corrosion inhibitors, pigment wetting agents, mineral flotation and flocculation aids, asphalt emulsifiers, surfactants, petroleum additives, etc. The fatty amines are also used as raw materials in the production of amine oxides, quaternary ammonium salts, cationic emulsifiers, and ethoxylates and propoxylate derivatives.